O biologii tego, co nieorganiczne. Krystalografia i koncepcje ukrytego życia w historiografii sztuki i architektury początku XX wieku
On the Biology of the Inorganic: Crystallography and Discourses of Latent Life in the Art and Architectural Historiography of the Early Twentieth Century

Summary/Abstract: The text discusses the intersections between the natural sciences investigating the latent energy of the inorganic matter and the art historical studies of such authors as Alois Riegl, Wilhelm Worringer and Aby Warburg. The author reconstructs the discourses of Monist natural philosophy concerning the inner animation of plants, crystals and minerals, especially “biocrystals” and “liquid crystals”, as the newly discovered entities on the verge of organic and inorganic. These scientific explorations and the notion of inorganic animation stirred the imagination of art historians. The concept of inorganic animation was adopted by Wilhelm Worringer in his theory of ornamental styles proposed in his book Abstraction and Empathy: A Contribution to the Psychology of Style (1907). The impact of Monist philosophy is also traceable in Aby Warburg’s conception of art history, in his notion of Pathosformel (pathos formula) understood as a form of static animation, as well as in his conception of the latent posthumous life of images.

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